Aug 06, 2011

For Now, Scott Bloch out of the Woods After Judge Allows Plea Mulligan

By BRYAN RAHIJA

A federal judge on Wednesday overturned the conviction and month-long jail sentence of a former government whistle-blower protector who pleaded guilty to keeping information from congressional investigators. Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that a magistrate judge "abused her discretion" by refusing to let President George W. Bush's former special counsel, Scott Bloch, withdraw his guilty plea with the support of prosecutors.

Bloch's contempt of Congress charge relates to his decision to hire Geeks on Call to scrub his office computer while he was under investigation for retaliating against his own employees. Apparently he didn't realize that the guilty plea might land him in the slammer, and so after a magistrate judge handed him a one month sentence, he tried to call backsies.

To Judge Lamberth, it didn't matter whether or not it was actually plausible that the defendant didn't realize the potential consequences of his initial guilty plea.

"[T]he relevant question," the judge wrote, "is what defendant believed when he pled guilty, however inexplicable that belief." In other words, it might sound crazy that Bloch didn't know the guilty plea carried potential jail time, but the important thing is that he believed that it didn't.

As the AP reports, Judge Lamberth said both sides (the prosecution did not get in the way of Bloch's request) should have been aware of the possibility of jail time, and described the case as "a situation in which lawyering has fallen short."

It remains to be seen what will end up happening to Bloch. He continues to face serious charges. Will the Justice Department (DOJ)/ show the same verve in prosecuting Bloch as it has shown in going after national security whistleblowers? Or will it back down and allow Bloch to avoid being held accountable? POGO hopes that in the end, DOJ will hold its ground and proceed with its prosecution of Bloch. And POGO also hopes that his punishment would be commensurate with the damage he did to whistleblowers across the government and to his own office.

Comments

I also am a victim of the failure of the OSC under Scott Block to protect my rights under the law.

My original complaint was dumped from the OSC computer system in 2005.(case # MA-05-0794)

When I was fired as an FAA safety inspector for reporting problems in the field, FAA illegal fired me and lied to a ALJ judge during the hearing. Effectively FAA committed a fraud upon the court and got away with it.

I never thought this happen in our country

So Block beat the system and is free to do more harm and my Victim Impact Statement is not worth the paper it is written on!

I am a direct victim of Block and his sociopathic conduct during his tenure with the OSC. Since being victimized, I have written certified letters to Judge Lambert offering my strong opinion that the man deserved AT LEAST a month in jail. To now learn that he avoided this relatively meager consequence is truly disheartening. The DOJ, like so many other agencies in Washington, is broken and ineffective. I am disgusted. The only hope that I have is in the knowledge that he can not avoid passing at least some of his sociopathic traits on to his offspring. And, when they reach their teen years and beyond, they will predictably cause him and his wife problems. Sorry, Scott. One way or the other you will reap what you have sown. My best advice would be for you and your wife to go to your nearest Catholic church, kneel with heads bowed and pray that your kids somehow avoid the warped trail that you have blazed for them.